Don’t be fooled. Blockbuster is NOT starting its own Netflix killer. (Yet.)

Dish Network, which bought Blockbuster out of bankruptcy protection earlier this year, has been teasing an online-video service that would compete with Netflix. The timing seems perfect, since Netflix has managed to alienate swaths of its fans with a price increase combined with a planned separation into a separate DVD-by-mail offering and an online-streaming business.

In a gambit to capitalize on Netflix fury, Blockbuster said it will offer Netflix customers a free, month-long trial for Blockbuster “Total Access,” a monthly subscription offering for mix of DVDs by mail and DVDs that can be swapped at Blockbuster stores.

After the free trail, Blockbuster will charge subscribers $9.99 a month to take out one DVD at a time. That’s $2 a month more expensive than the one-DVD-at-a-time option from Netflix.

But Blockbuster Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Lewis says Blockbuster customers will get “stuff you won’t get from Netflix.”

Dish Network, which recently bought video-rental chain Blockbuster, released a helpful “reminder” to news outlets this afternoon. And by “reminder,” the company really meant a soft attack against Netflix and its just released price hikes.

Satellite mogul Charlie Ergen seems to be buying everything in sight as part of a “Seinfeld” M&A strategy. Charlie, allow Deal Journal to recommend another trophy for your wall.

NCR, the company that runs DVD-rental kiosks under the Blockbuster name, said yesterday it may sell its entertainment business, which includes the kiosks. We’re betting NCR has Charlie Ergen’s number handy. [MORE]

But on today’s first-quarter earnings conference call, analysts got a chance to ask about Dish’s plans for Blockbuster. Ergen’s responses seemed to throw cold water on that idea that Dish wanted to take on Netflix. Or, maybe Dish has no idea what it is doing at all. …

Netflix took several paragraphs out of its annual letter to investors to talk about how it is trying to ward off every competitor trying to eat its lunch. The strategy: Grow fast, make Netflix better and easier to use, and consider more deals to offer its subscribers exclusive pieces of entertainment.

Oh, and Netflix also confirmed what everyone has suspected, that Dish Network’s effort to purchase Blockbuster out of bankruptcy protection is a direct aim at Netflix:

Dish Network has emerged from a court scrum with a $320.6 million deal to buy Blockbuster out of bankruptcy protection.

Now, Mike Spector and Marcelo Prince discuss what Dish might do with its new toy. Dish is intrigued by Blockbuster’s online-video service for movies, which so far has been unpopular. Could Dish use Blockbuster’s whopping library of film titles to create a legitimate rival to Netflix?

Dish Network in the wee hours clinched a deal to buy Blockbuster out of bankruptcy protection. What will a satellite-television company do with a video rental chain? That’s what Deal Journal wants to know, too.

There are plenty of mumbles about Dish pushing a Blockbuster competitor to Netflix, or using Blockbuster’s online video services to tempt more satellite-TV customers, but the reality is Dish has made a bet on Blockbuster — admittedly, a relatively inexpensive one at $320 million — and time will tell if the bet will pay off.

“Investors will, no doubt, squint and see connections (hey, it’s all video entertainment!),” said the cold-water dousing Craig Moffett, from Bernstein Research. “For us, however, the deal is strategically puzzling.”

Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network has won — or should we say, “won” — an auction to buy Blockbuster out of bankruptcy. Well, Charlie, now what?

Deal Journal colleagues Mike Spector and Joe Checkler reported Dish considers Blockbuster a “going concern,” meaning the company wants to keep Blockbuster running. Other possible owners for Blockbuster would have sold all or much of the company for scrap.

For fans of Blockbuster, Ergen is is a hero for keeping the movie retailer alive (for now). But it’s still unclear what Dish is going to do with Blockbuster, besides vague notions of using Blockbuster stores to sell Dish subscriptions. (Perhaps Dish could use Blockbuster stores as storage for satellite-TV dishes and tuner boxes?)

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Deal Journal is an up-to-the-minute take on the deals and deal makers that shape the landscape of Wall Street, including mergers and acquisitions, capital-raising, private equity and bankruptcy. In short, wherever money changes hands. Deal Journal is updated throughout each trading day with exclusive commentary, analysis, data, news flashes and profiles. The Wall Street Journal’s David Benoit is the lead writer, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Send news items, comments and questions to deals@wsj.com.

Dealpolitik is Ronald Barusch's strategic look at deals currently making the headlines as well as the major forces at work in the deal-making world. He was a M&A lawyer with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for over 30 years. He retired in 2010 after 25 years as a partner at the firm. Click here for his current and archived columns.